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Hate Crimes Legislation

Posted by A Citizen on Wednesday, May 09, 2007 2:17:38 PM

What I’d like to discuss today is the hate crimes bill, newly passed by the U.S. Senate. Being somewhat slow to make decisions on things with this many aspects and consequences, I’m still undecided on this one. Having talked to some university students and fellow politically minded people in the Christian community I’m starting to lean towards endorsing it in principle, but still have reservations.

The positive side of this legislation is that it works both ways. Think about it for a minute: you’re in a philosophy class and the professor is ranting on about how Christians are the scourge of the earth and the reason for all our difficulties (yes, this is a true story and it happens all the time in our universities) finally ending the opening lecture with the statement: “If you call yourself a Christian, my one and only goal for you in this class is to destroy your faith and reduce your pathetic arguments to dust. In other words you might as well leave right now.” Whamo! You now have bona-fide legal protection against such discrimination! “Excuse me professor, but you have just committed a hate crime and I’m going to have to report you to law enforcement unless you retract that statement.” How much more could you ask for?

The other side of it is that it paves the way for a limit on how much a Christian can speak out on their beliefs on "sexual orientation", abortion and other hot issues without being accused of committing crimes of hate. This could get ugly if someone chose to sue a church or organization for libel or a hate crime, not to mention the lukewarmness it would foster in Christian circles everywhere.

When you boil it all down though, I think Christians can do a better job of winning converts through demonstrating the Love of God rather than shaking their collective fingers in people’s faces. Don’t get me wrong, I believe that we should have the right of free speech and be able to denounce moral depravity as wrong from our pulpits, these are the fundamentals on which our country was founded and should never change.

But I’ve never seen a morally depraved individual change through hypocritical finger pointing; what seems to work better is allowing God to do the convicting and us as Christians to do the loving. Not that there can be no confrontation either, there is a place for that as well. If there is no moral barometer in which to judge right and wrong, then society becomes that barometer and a very poor one it makes indeed. Perhaps this new legislation is more of a gauge of how far our society is sinking into paradox and pointless squabbling.

I think it’s humorous how many western Christians are turning into wimps when some form of opposition comes their way. It’s like the various "missionaries" who come to your door: they’re all self confident until you challenge them with an obvious missing link to their beliefs, then they accuse you of persecution. There’s a saying going around that says something like; “Any religion that needs legislation to protect it’s values has become a social guild and isn’t a true religion anymore.” Radical Islam falls under that list as well. The minute any one religion tries to convert through force or coercion it has ceased to be an effective agent of salvation for the souls of men.

And that brings me to the question of whether or not one should mix politics and religion at all. Greg Koukle has an excellent article on this, so I won’t bother to try to rewrite what he’s already done such a good job putting into words!

I'd like to close with a short story of recently meeting and making friends with a very interesting individual. He's an elderly gentleman, a stout, wide faced, blue-eyed man with a slight accent. When asked where he’s from there is a bit of hesitation, but after a while it comes out; he’s from Germany. A sailor, he was in the secret predecessor to the Kriegsmarine (German Navy) in 1938. His eyes get a distant look to them when we talk politics, a particular love of his. When I asked him what the political climate was like in 1938 Germany, he said simply “Look around your country, many similarities.”

Whichever way this debate goes, I’m interested to see what other’s opinions are on the matter!

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She's at it again!

Posted by A Citizen on Wednesday, May 09, 2007 1:10:25 PM

“A source close to the controversy over the request made by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., for use of a military plane that can fly to and from her home district in San Francisco without having to stop to refuel, told ABC News that the Pentagon has rebuffed Pelosi's request.” (ABC News)

Isn’t it just like a SF liberal to pretend to champion the impoverished by claiming to be “just an average, everyday person” at the same time as trying to get a personal aircraft to fly her non-stop home from Washington? Meanwhile, her “average, everyday” fellow citizens have to deal with cramped seats, long waits and several stopovers for the same trip. The current aircraft that’s been used for years in this role is the Gulfstream IIV, a comfortable twelve passenger twin engine jet the flies just over 500 MPH. It’s cost of operation is around $1700 per hour. The aircraft Madam Pelosi is requesting is a C-32, “a very luxurious and specially configured version of the Boeing 757-200 commercial airliner.” This aircraft can cost as much as $22,000 per hour to operate! It’s usually used by the First Lady, the President, Vice President or cabinet members upon special request.

Herein lies my biggest beef with Democrats: their constant and unwavering backing of socialistic leaning agendas to be forced on the American people while the politicians themselves live a perfectly capitalistic lifestyle. I don't care what party you're from, when you get that hypocrytical you've lost the very essence of what it takes to be a good leader: leadership through example. Show me a good leader and I'll guarantee he/she will be one who isn't afraid to live what they preach!